The breaks of the game did not go in favor of a gallant Mighty Sports-Philippines as they bowed to Al Riyadi Club in extra time, 100-95, in the 2017 Dubai Invitational Basketball Tournament Thursday morning (Manila time) at the Al Ahli Sporting Club.
With their fifth straight loss, the already-eliminated Philippine side cemented their place at the bottom of the standings with a 0-5 slate. The Lebanese ball club, on the other hand, finished the elimination phase with an unscathed 6-0 record as they head to the semis.
Mighty Sports played in today’s game without top guard Kiefer Ravena, who had injured his shooting hand Wednesday in their 100-93 defeat against Homenetmen Beirut B.C. The 6’1″ guard will not also suit up for their final game on Friday against Ball Above All.
It was the foreign reinforcements who shone in Thursday’s match, with import Justin Brownlee leading the team for the fifth straight game with 27 points on 10-of-23 shooting along with a personal-high of 10 rebounds and seven assists to stuff the stat sheet.
The 7’2″ Hasheem Thabeet finally displayed his best outing yet after being silent for the past four games, scoring 16 markers by shooting an excellent 85 percent clip. The towering big man also hauled down 12 boards en route to a double-double.
Dominic McGuire chipped in 14 points and six boards.
Veteran guard Chris Tiu led the locals as he finished with 11 markers spiked by two triples along with six rebounds. Three of Tiu’s 11 points came at the best of the times, as it all came from the foul line and sent the game into OT, 80-all, without any time left in regulation.
Mighty Sports actually had the upper hand in overtime after back-to-back triples by Willie Miller and Tiu connected and propelled them to a two-possession lead, 91-87, with 2:47 to go. However, that four-point cushion proved to be their last taste of the lead.
With Beau Belga and Brownlee each whistled for fouls against Roy Samaha and Abdul Aminu, Al Riyadi were sent to the stripe in both instances and converted all shots, allowing them to wipe the narrow deficit and turn it to a 92-91 lead with 1:48 left.
From there, Mighty Sports started to miss shots and committed lapses on defense. As a result, Al Riyadi scored five more points off a lay-up and a triple off the curl all courtesy of Branko Cvetkovic to widen the gap to four, 97-93, with exactly 30 seconds on the clock.
The Philippines played catch-up ball from that point on, but most of their shots did not hit the target and time was not on their side anymore. Another set of free throws from the Lebanese side proved to be the nail in the coffin and aided them to the win.
Cvetkovic anchored Al Riyadi’s well-distributed attack with 23 points highlighted by four triples. Aminu supplied 22 markers and 10 caroms, while Mohamad Haidar added 16 points and seven rebounds.
Mighty Sports shot just 31-of-79 from the floor for a 39 percent clip. They were also outrebounded, 52-47, and their bench players were outplayed by the opposing team’s reserves, 47-33.
The Philippine contingent will look to close out their Dubai stint on a winning note as they battle Dubai-based organization Ball Above All tomorrow, Friday, February 24, at 1:00 AM.
The Scores:
Al Riyadi (100) – Cvetkovic 23, Aminu 22, Haidar 16, Ismail 14, Saoud 10, Zaloum 4, Araldi 4, Samaha 4, Aba 3.
Mighty Sports (95) – Brownlee 27, Thabeet 16, McGuire 14, Tiu 11, Miller 8, David 7, Araña 5, Teng 4, Belga 3, Manuel 0, Intal 0, Douthit 0.
Quarterscores: 23-22, 45-36, 62-60, 80-80, 100-95.
